About

From an early age M J Westley was tutored and mentored by Irvin Hobbs OBE. Thanks to his inspirational teacher he went on to study at Birmingham College of Art and Design, Margaret Street and Cardiff College of Art.

In 1973 Michael started producing a series of large, highly detailed, predominantly figurative pencil drawings. Over the next 20 years he produced 20 of these intricate A0 sized works. Most of these are now in private and public collections including the Guinness Collection. Michael turned to painting in 1996 and employs various combinations of colour and technique to create his bold mixed media works inspired by dramatic landscapes both here in the UK and abroad. In tandem with these, Michael is also renowned for his works on paper in charcoal, ink, pencil, pastel, watercolour and oils. His work is in many private collections both here and abroad.

Exhibitions

Dean Clough Contemporary Art Gallery – Halifax

The South Square Gallery – Bradford

Rob Whittle Fine Art – Birmingham

The No. 9 Gallery – Birmingham

The Bond Gallery – Birmingham

West Midlands Arts Centre – Birmingham

The London Contemporary Arts Fair

The ICA – London

The Royal Academy – London

The Royal Festival Hall – London

The East West Gallery – London

Connaught Brown – London

Newhouse Gallery – London

Warrs - London

Prizes

The Guinness Prize, Royal Academy of Arts, 1992

The Open Drawing Competition – Prize Winner

Touring Exhibitions

The Crucifixion drawings were exhibited at the following cathedrals with kind sponsorship from The British Council: